After the two massive signings of Kyle Schwarber and Edwin Diaz truly opened the Winter Meetings on December 9, Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow continued to work on the smaller scale.
The Red Sox and lefty pitcher Alec Gamboa have agreed to a minor league split contract with an invitation to big league spring training, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. Gamboa, who will be 28 in January, was selected by the Dodgers in the ninth round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He has not yet appeared in the major leagues. If he makes it to the major leagues with the Sox, he'll be owed $925,000.
The Red Sox traded three lefty relievers on on November 18, and after missing out on a potential reunion with trade deadline acquisition Steven Matz, Breslow has seemingly turned to Gamboa to replace some of those arms. He's far from proven, given that he hasn't debuted yet, but Breslow's eye for pitching has been largely accurate to this point.
Gamboa spent six seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers' minor league system before he was released on May 13. He reached Triple-A in the 2023 season, but could never take the leap to the big leagues. He posted a 4.19 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 12 strikeouts and 12 walks over 19.1 innings last season.
Red Sox sign former Dodgers minor league pitcher, 2025 KBO starter Alec Gamboa
HIs stats from 2025 don't jump off the page, but he shows promise in a few key areas, Gamboa's exit velocity and chase percentage both ranked in the 82nd percentile in his short, final season in the Dodgers' system. He also collected a 34.7 whiff percentage on his slider, which he used 27 percent of the time last season.
After the Dodgers organization released Gamboa, he signed with the Lotte Giants of the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization). He logged a 3.58 ERA with 117 strikeouts and 49 walks over 108 innings. All 19 appearances he made in Korea were starts. Gamboa was named KBO player of the month for June after he posted a 1.72 ERA over five starts.
Gamboa may not become a lefty staple in the Sox's bullpen, which would be fine since he's just on a minor league deal. But if he balls out for Boston, his sub-$1 million contract will be another pitching win for Breslow.